PS 3537 
.0697 
P6 
1917 
Copy 1 



POEMS 



BY 
WM. GARY SANGER, JR. 



POEMS 



BY 



WM. GARY SANGER, JR. 



^ 



XTbe IRnfcf^erbocfter press 

NEW YORK 

1917 



^ 



Copyright, 1917 

BY 

WM. GARY SANGER, Jr. 

JUN -7 1917 



©C!..A4«8498 



^ 



This Book is Dedicated 
To the Memory of My Brother 

Henry Lawrence Sanger 



Poems 



CHILDREN OF THE FACTORIES 

(After L' Allegro) 

Now the day of toil is done, 

Children at the set of sun, 

Beside their cottage window sill 

Watch the twilight on the hill, 

Where lights appearing wink and glow 

And chimney smoke arises slow; 

Seated beside the window ledge 

They talk of voyage and pilgrimage 

To foreign lands and distant shores, 

And castles great and palace doors. 

They dream of gorgeous kings and queens, 

And marbled halls and jeweled screens, 

Where they may play and wander far 

Under the mystic sunset star; 

Knights and squires give to each 

Words of welcome, kindly speech, 

And so in thought they fly away 

Into the realm of another day. 

igi6. 



SUNSHINE 

Along the hills the glint of sunbeams fair 
That kindle field and furrow with their light, 
Refreshing with their rays the morning air, 
And cheering vale and hilltop's wooded height. 
Far in the blue, the clouds in gathered might 
Sweep in majestic splendor to the west 
Like sailing squadrons billowing in flight 
Moving at some Imperial behest. 
Across the surging seas to Islands of the Blest. 

1916. 



RAIN 

A veiling mist encompasses the earth, 
Broken at times b}^ sullen drifting rain, 
A fitting mood for melancholy's birth 
Fraught with the memories of former pain ; 
Blossom and leaf alike bow down again 
With weight of gathered dampness bending low, 
O'erladen with the moisture they retain, 
And dreary mists across the valleys blow, 
Shrouding the fields where wheat and barley 
grow. 

igi6. 



ODE 

"They do not know enough to care or dream, " 

So said a passer-by who saw them there, 

Wearily trudging home along the street. 

A dim and listless afternoon 

When the sun's rays 

Glowed through the haze, 

And seemed to beat 

In pulsing cadences and waves of heat 

Upon the air. 

And everywhere were toilers from the mills; 

For them few sunny days were wont to gleam ; 

From morn till night the factory alone 

Dulled with its monotone 

Their darkened days; 

And yet the hills 

Around the town 

And up and down the valley far and wide 

Gladdened the countryside. 



Ode 

"They do not know enough to care or dream, 

So said the passer-by, 

Now knowing how 

The soul may be confined yet wander far 

Beyond the loom and factory and plough 

Seeking a star 

Or planet in some dim imagined sky, 

A distant gleam, 

That beckons far beyond 

All earthly bond 

Into a day which is the deathless goal 

Of every prisoned soul. 

A day which has not come, yet is to be 

Splendid and free 

In the fulfillment of Eternity. 

May, igi6. 



x^FTER THE STYLE OF CHRISTOBEL 

Quiet the sea, a lonely star 

Shines in the planet-jeweled sky; 

The lazy ground-swell plays afar, 

A sailing ship serene and slow 

Dim on the sea is passing by; 

Her lights reflected dance and glow. 

Along the coast the wash and sweep 

Of drowsy waves their cadence keep, 

And on a headland, ghostly white, 

A lighthouse flashes through the night. 

igi6. 



10 



A CALL TO THE HARVEST 

Harvest fields of burnished gold 
Where the sunlight tips the wheat, 
Call again to young and old 
Leave the office and the street, 
Leave the restless city's toil. 
For the freshness of the soil, 
For the plain beneath the sky, 
Where the clouds are sailing by; 
There your heart shall find its measure 
Of contentment — free from pain, 
And the reaping will be pleasure 
As you gather in the grain. 

July, IQ16. 



THE SPADE 

A humble thing, but yet its power turns 
Great empires, overthrowing Prince and King. 
Gold from the mountain, iron from the mine. 
These and their like are children of its toil ; 
Foundations of great palaces and halls, 
And vast Cathedral towers owe their birth 
To that most potent dynasty — the spade. 
And at the last when captains and when Kings 
Sleep after life's long battle — to the ground 
The Church consigns their dust; and when the 

prayers 
Are ended and the mourners all depart 
The spade completes their final earthly rites 
And bids them rest until the Lord shall come 
At the last resurrection of the Dead. 

igi6. 



12 



FOR THOSE WHO DIED IN FRANCE 

For those who died in France 
By cannon-shell and lance, 
Forget not, friend, to pray 
That they be truly blest 
In their eternal rest 
So far away. 

When here the moonlight dim. 

Through forest branch and limb 

Shall sift in checkered-silver patterns fair. 

The moonbeams also dance. 

In forest groves of France, 

And touch the little silent crosses there. 

And when the sunlight rays 
Shall melt the dawn's dim haze 
And call you to your day of Harvest reaping, 
Remember, all is still, 
For them, on plain and hill : 
They who are sleeping. 
13 



14 For Those Who Died in France 

For you the sunlit hours 
Of happiness and flowers 
And music of the dance; 
Yet at the close of day 
Forget not then to pray, 
For those who died in France. 

igi6. 



PORTRAIT 

{After the fashion of Pope) 

Behold her, seated there upon her throne, 
A Sort of Goddess, waiting all alone. 
She knows that hosts of lovers late or soon 
Will throng about her, eager for a boon. 
Her eyes of blue, her fluffy golden hair 
Would prove a painter's passion and despair. 
Her dainty ankle, (stocking silken black) 
Would make a hasty passer-by look back. 
And who her girlish figure could behold 
Without desiring her above all gold. 
So charmingly she tossed her golden head, 
"An angel come from heaven," people said. 

IQ16. 



15 



ONE TENTH 

If we could say one tenth of all we feel, 
Or do one tenth of all we dream and plan ; 
Telling of things we've witnessed far and wide, 
And characters we've met with here and there, 
How happy and how thankful we should be. 
But why be wasting time on idle thoughts, 
For though our lives might last a thousand 

years 
And we had strength to work by night and day 
— Yet we could never more than just begin 
To tell of all the glory of the world — 
Things that have happened since the world 

began, 
And all that happens now from day to day, 
— Nature is glorious beyond belief; 
— Man is a living witness of our God; 
— The Works of Man speak likewise of His power. 
The Universe and all the Soul of Life 
Is marvelous and glorious and vast. 
Yet out of all this endless field of Life 
We may but touch some portion here and there. 
i6 



One Tenth 17 

Our years all too brief are — and soon we pass 

Beyond the Portals to that Other Life 

Where — by the Cross — -we'll waken in the Light : 

To see our pathway clear and never halt 

For Barrier or Pain — but driving on 

Look ever toward the Light — till Life is done. 



AT THE END OF THE DAY 

At the end of the day when the sun sinks low 

On plain and ridge and crest, 
And the evening shadows deepen and grow, 

And we're tired and sick and opprest ; 
We come to a home that we all well know, 

Our haven — Wanderer's Rest. 

Weary and lone we make our way 

To the portal that opens wide; 
And we enter in — at the close of the day ; 

For there we may abide. 
Nor is there any long delay — 

Once we have stepped inside. 

We loose our packs — and free from care 

We lay us down to sleep, 
And we rest — and none may rouse us there, 

For we slumber long and deep; 
We rest — God knows we need our share 

For the road is rough and steep. 



At the End of the Day 19 

Through the long, hushed night we find release; 

There is no danger nigh. 
There is no sound — in silent peace 

The age-long night goes by, 
Till the Light that bids the darkness cease 

Dawns in the eastern sky. 

1913- 



CHILDREN OF THE DAWN 

Children of the Dawn are we, 

Watchers of the night, 
Eager for the Dark to flee, 

Longing for the Light. 

Yearning for the brighter day, 

Dream of every soul; 
Striving, though so far away, 

Ever towards the goal. 

Radiant — across the years 

Of our world of strife; 
Eastward — where the skyline clears. 

Gleams a waking life. 

Guided by the dawning glow 
Through the Lands of Night 

Forward on our course we go 
Following the Light. 

1913- 



THE LIFE BEYOND 

Seek not the living among the dead, 
For ye shall not find them there ; 

Think not they rest in the narrow bed 
That is only the earthly share. 

Dust, it is true, shall return to dust, 

And earth to the earth again, 
Ashes to ashes — decay and rust 

Are the prizes of earth's domain. 

But why do ye seek in the Courts of Night 
For those who are free from bond ? 

The}^ live — in the Realms of Eternal Light ; 
Afar in the life beyond. 



21 



RAILROAD BUILDERS 

When every dream was shattered, 
When every hope had gone, 
Against odds not even a gambler's chance. 
They fought their way and they drove their lance 
Through rock and cliff — and it's still ' ' Advance. ' ' 
They never give in on the line. 

19^3- 



22 



THE LEGIONS OF LIGHT 

They shall cleanse the Earth of a million sins 

And a million souls set free; 
Their task begins when time begins, 

And ends with eternity. 
Children, under the skies of blue, 

Playing beside the sea 
And a world refreshed and made aneiu 

Their monument shall be. 



"What do you see in the snowy clouds 

Ever and ever so high, 
Up by the towering City's shrouds 

Where the offices mount to the sky? 
All I can see is the vault of blue, 

And the billowy clouds in the air, 
But I know that your eyes are young and true. 

Oh, tell me what you see there." 
23 



24 The Legions of Light 

"And what is that cloud bank far to the west, 

Beyond the billows of white? 
Its stormy dark and towering crest 

Seems like the shadow of night. 
I see the distant lightning play, 

Flash and disappear, 
And the thunder roars — but speak, I say, 

Oh, what do you see and hear? " 

"I see the Legions of Light, my friend. 

In the smoke of the cannonade. 
Squadrons that plunge where the ranks extend, 

And the galloping charge is made; 
Artillery smoke clouds whirl and change 

As the battle swings along. 
And I know that the gunners have found the range 

And they're storming the Forces of Wrong." 

"Storming the Forces of Wrong to-day, 

And afar in the upper sky. 
Above the clouds where the armies sway. 

The Aerial fleets go by. 
Far and far in the higher air 

Of the uppermost strata of mist, 
In each successive cloud-belt layer 

Wherever the foe resist." 



The Legions of Light 25 

"I see the flash of the guns that speak 

Across the hills of cloud 
I hear the whirr of shells that shriek 

And whine and scream aloud; 
The thunder and roar of heavy guns 

Pounding and pounding away, 
Tells where the barrier river runs 

And the rival armies sway." 

"At first the Legions of Light fall back, 

Savagely fights the foe, 
Whose thundering charge and grim attack 

Deals its pitiless blow, 
But yet as the day wears on apace 

And the sunset fires burn 
On cloud and summit in starry space 

I see the war-tide turn." 

"For now the Legions of Light advance, 

Their hosts are surging by, 
Sweeping the plains and the vast expanse 

Of the valley across the sky. 
Their guns boom forth from crag and peak 

That tower above the plains. 
And night comes on, but the guns still speak. 

The Army of Light still gains. " 



26 The Legions of Light 

They shall cleanse the Earth of a million sins 

And a million souls set free; 
Their task begins when time begins, 

And ends with eternity. 
Children, under the skies of blue, 

Playing beside the sea, 
And a world refreshed and made anew 

Their monument shall be. 

J 91 5- 



SEA COAST MEMORIES 

A silent token, 

A promise spoken, 

Whispered vows, that shall not be broken. 

The evening star, and the wave-washed bar- 

A light afar — 

And a promise spoken. 

June, IQ16. 



27 



THE RUSH HOUR 

When the long day's work is ended, 

And the never ceasing beat 
Of the traflfic's roar is blended 

With the sound of moving feet; 
If you watch the crowded places 

Where the workers throng the way, 
There you see the tired faces; 

Wearied — after the day. 

1913- 



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NIGHT 

The dances now are done — the guests have gone ; 
— Even the revellers are hushed in sleep. 
The lamps burn low, the streets are quiet now; 
Deserted save where here and there some form 
Paces the sidewalk up and down again; 
A watcher of the dim, m^^sterious night. 
And far above — all cold, and calm, and white, 
The moon floats high through drifting banks of 

cloud, 
Its silver glory touching roof and street. 

igi2. 



29 



REVEILLE 

Dawn — on the fields of Flanders, 
Dawn — on the plains of France, 

A bugle call and a rampart wall 
And a day of sword and lance. 

Bayonet, blood and slaughter. 
Guns that pound and pound, 

Prayer and groan and tortured moan, 
In the roar of the battle's sound. 

Dawn — on the fields of Flanders, 
Dawn — on the Marne and the Aisne 

Free from strife — new homes and life 
Gladden the waking plain. 



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TAPS 

Rest in sleep — rest in sleep, soldiers of glory, 
All is now hushed on the battle strewn plain. 

Millions hereafter shall learn of your story, 
You, who have tasted the chalice of pain. 

You, who have given your life and its gladness 
All that you were, and were hoping to be, 

Know that from out of the stillness and sadness 
Life shall awaken eternal and free. 

Over the battle field, fortress and by-way 
Where you so lately have given your all, 

Sunlight and flowers shall gladden the highway, 
Roses and vines shall encircle the wall. 

Take then the rest that to you is now given 
Sadly the Harvest moon shines in the skies, 

Sleep — and the stars shall be sentries of heaven, 
Till the Great Reveille bids you arise. 

IQ16. 

Written at Plattshurg Military Training Camp. 



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